Breaking the Rules
by JacksonFrost
Summary: The Marauders always have enjoyed their status as rule-breakers. Sirius and Remus, however, are breaking rules of their own. Centered around the "Things I Will Not Do At Hogwarts" list.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This is for the "Things I Will Not Do At Hogwarts" challenge. Each chapter will be centered around a "rule" and how it affects Sirius and Remus! This is slash, just so you know. And I really love this pairing, but I've never written it before, so let me know what you think!!

* * *

**Growing marijuana or hallucinogenic mushrooms is not "an extra credit project for Herbology"**

Sirius was sprawled on the over-stuffed couch in the Gryffindor common room, intensely absorbed in a book. This was such an unusual sight that Gryffindors were blatantly staring and pointing, unnoticed by Sirius.

As Remus entered the room, he almost tripped over his own feet when he saw the sight. "Padfoot, studying?" he asked sarcastically. "The world must be coming to an end."

Sirius glanced up from the book and shot Remus a grin that made his stomach painfully twist. "It's for an extra credit project for Herbology," he said vaguely, flipping a page.

Remus smirked and flopped down on the couch next to him. Sirius, without taking his eyes off from the page, threw his legs over Remus' lap, causing Remus' stomach to experience another painful twist. He winced, wishing he didn't eat those sausages for dinner.

James and Peter entered the room, bounding over to the couch where Remus and Sirius sat.

"You found the book?" James asked with a surprising amount of excitement, considering the question was school related.

"Sure did," Sirius said, smirking at James. "It's got exactly what we need!"

"To do what?" Peter asked blankly.

"Extra credit project," James answered easily. "For Herbology."

"I didn't hear about an extra credit project," Peter said sullenly.

Remus frowned. "Me neither!"

James and Sirius exchanged a gleeful look. "We're just on top of these things," Sirius said happily.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

James spotted Lily in the distance and muttered something about this being a good opportunity as he quickly headed towards the red-head. Peter, attached to James' hip as always, quickly followed.

Remus shifted under the weight of Sirius' legs. "So what is this 'extra credit project' exactly?"

Sirius finally put the book down and sat up. "Meet me at midnight, by the Whomping Willow, and find out."

Remus shivered at the sudden absence of Sirius' warmth. "Okay."

Sirius glanced at him in surprise. "You're not freaking out about it? Excellent."

"I don't _freak out_," Remus muttered.

Sirius shot him another stomach-twisting grin and got to his feet. "See you tonight, then."

Remus watched him bound off to James. "See you," he muttered, after Sirius was already across the room, animatedly talking to James and Wormtail. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the confusing surge of emotions, and failing as he thought about the idea of Sirius and midnight and alone and his heart began to race.

--

Remus spotted a figure crouched over a spot on the ground and hissed, "It's me!" The figure stood up and turned around, looking for the source of the noise. As Remus' eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw Sirius' features emerge. Remus pulled off the Invisibility Cloak he had snitched from James' trunk, and saw Sirius' face light up.

"Moony!" he said happily. "You're here!"

Remus practically skipped over to where Sirius was standing. "Now, what is this extra credit project?"

Sirius smirked. "You really want to see?" He waved his arm proudly at the patch of mushrooms growing next to a bush. "Ta-da."

Remus frowned and examined the bush more closely. "Sirius."

"Yes, Moony?"

"Growing marijuana or hallucinogenic mushrooms is not an "extra credit project for Herbology!"

Sirius snorted. "Well, we applied some very important concepts to this project. It was very educational!"

Remus rolled his eyes but smiled. "I'm sure it was. Now, what do you plan on doing with this….project?"

Sirius gave him a patronizing look. "If you don't know, I suppose I'll have to show you."

"Er," Remus stuttered nervously. "Won't James be pissed?"

"We grew enough for him to have his share," Sirius said absently, pulling a pipe out of his pocket and fumbling with it in the darkness.

"But Pads, this is wrong. I shouldn't do this, I'm a prefect!"

"But this weed is perfect," Sirius said, laughing at his own joke.

Remus bit his lip. "I've never done this before."

"I'll show you," Sirius said happily. He passed Remus the pipe. "You can go first."

Remus took a drag from the pipe and immediately started coughing, the sweet smoke filling his lungs.

Sirius laughed and took the pipe back, expertly inhaling. They passed the pipe back and forth for several minutes, until Remus was bent over from laughing so hard, and Sirius was grinning wildly.

"Remus Lupin is high," Sirius said in wonderment, his voice husky from the smoke. "I'm amazed."

"I'm not high," protested Remus. "Sirius-ly, Sirius," he cracked, before dissolving into peals of laughter.

Sirius snorted. "You're kind of cute, Moony."

Remus looked at him for a second, the still-coherent part of his brain swimming with questions. "I think you're cute too, Pads," he said slowly.

Sirius bit his lip, then leaned over and kissed him. Remus froze, before kissing him back, sloppily and passionately and like he never thought he was capable of. Sirius gave out a little moan of pleasure and grabbed a handful of Remus' hair, twisting the strands around his fingers. Remus ran his fingers across Sirius' chest, feeling his heart pound against his palm, and suddenly they're a tangle of sweaty limbs and racing hearts and hot breath against skin.

It was ecstasy, it was Sirius Black, it was everything Remus had ever wanted and so much more, and it was over all too soon as they heard twigs breaking and a shocked, "What the bloody hell are you two doing?"

Sirius jumped apart from Remus. "James," he panted, his face burning.

"We were smoking…" Remus offered as an explanation, unwilling to make eye contact with either James or Sirius.

"I've smoked plenty of times with Sirius, and I've never had the urge to snog him," James said, a smirk replacing his shocked expression. "And Padfoot, that was _my_ weed, you prat."

Sirius sat up, having appeared to regain his composure. "Relax, Prongs, there's plenty left for you. And this was Moony's first time. He got a little carried away."

Remus blushed and James laughed. "What's your excuse, Pads?"

"I wasn't in my right frame of mind either," Sirius protested. "Don't get too excited, James."

"Oh, _I'm_ not the one who was excited," James said pointedly. "Shall I leave you two alone now?"

"No," Sirius snapped, at the same time Remus shook his head.

James rolled his eyes. "Methinks you are protesting a little too much."

"Methinks you are an idiot," Sirius said, jumping to his feet. "So let's go back inside."

James shoved him affectionately and then turned to Remus. "And I think I'll have my Cloak back now, thanks."

"Sorry," Remus muttered, handing James the Cloak without protest.

James looked at him with surprise. "Sirius, you had quite the effect on Moony."

Sirius blushed. "I think he's still high."

Remus rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. "I'm fine," he mumbled. "Let's just pretend that never happened."

"But it did," James said slyly, as they crept through the grounds. "I saw it."

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Remus asked, alarmed.

James stopped and gave Remus a mortally offended look. "Are you really asking that? Am I or am I not your best mate? If you really think I would betray your greatest secret- after your furry secret, which, incidentally, I have not told anyone about- then I don't even know what to say to you, Moony." He shook his head sadly.

Remus blushed again. "I'm sorry. I just- I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You're just recovering from your first high," James said fondly, ruffling Remus' hair. "How cute! Itty bitty Moony getting high for the very first time! Good thing Sirius was there to help you along."

Sirius shoved James. "Anybody else, Prongs…" he warned, laughing.

James smiled cheekily. "Oh, shove it, Sirius, you know you wouldn't stand a chance against me."

Before Sirius could retort, they arrived at the building and Remus angrily shushed them. "If we get caught, we could get expelled!" he hissed.

Sirius and James fell silent at Remus' threatening glare, and the three made it to their dormitory without incident.

"G'night," James said sleepily, climbing into the bed next to a snoring Peter.

"Night," Sirius said, giving Remus a quick smile as he crawled into bed.

Remus got under his covers, his heart still racing at the thought of Sirius and their kiss and _did that really happen?_ He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind, but one thought kept coming back: _Sirius._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate the story alerts too, but I like reviews even more, hint hint, wink wink. :)

* * *

**Remus Lupin does not want a flea collar.**

Sometimes, Remus almost wishes that kiss influenced by marijuana and the thrill of being alone with Sirius at midnight had never happened. It makes his friendship with Sirius slightly awkward at times, and certainly gave James something to smirk about whenever Remus was in close proximity with Sirius.

Remus had decided that the best course of action to take was to pretend that it never happened. It was the weed's fault. He couldn't like Sirius like _that,_ Sirius was his _mate_, not to mention a _bloke._ Anyway, it was obvious that Sirius liked girls. He was certainly dating enough of them.

And so Remus pretends that his stomach jumping when he saw Sirius is just because he ate a little too much at dinner. He pretends that the reason why he takes advantage of Sirius' endless supply of bear hugs was because he simply needs the friendly affection to prove to himself that he wasn't a monster. He pretends that Sirius is just another friend, nothing more, nothing less.

He had to remind himself of that when he saw Sirius bounding into the Great Hall.

"Moony!" Sirius falls into the chair beside him. "Tonight's the night!"

"It's nice to see _someone_ is excited about it," Remus grumbles.

Sirius rolls his eyes at him. "Don't be negative, Moony, it'll be an adventure!"

"What an adventure," drawls a voice behind them. "Running around with a flea-ridden wolf…thrilling."

Remus and Sirius both turn in anger at Severus Snape's greasy voice.

"Shut up, _Snivellous_," Sirius hisses, fingering his wand lazily.

Severus smirks. "Lupin, do you want a flea collar for your little adventure tonight?"

Before Remus can react, Sirius is on his feet in anger. "Not so clever, Snivellous," he spits furiously, pulling out his wand. "It looks like I'm going to have to teach you a few manners."

Severus' eyes glints with fury as he draws his wand.

"GENTLEMEN," screeches Professor McGonagall, hurrying towards them. "Wands away, both of you!"

Sirius hastily stuffs his wand into his robes. "Sorry Professor."

"Sorry," mutters Severus.

McGonagall shakes her head in disapproval. "Ten points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. And there will be detention if I see this again!" She raises her eyebrows menacingly and leaves them.

Severus smirks again at Sirius and storms away. Sirius turns to Remus. "What a prick," he mutters.

Remus shakes his head, standing up. "It doesn't matter, Pads. I just wonder how he found out."

"It does matter," Sirius glowers at Remus. "I don't know how he found out, but have some pride, Moony, you can't let people insult you like that!"

Remus started walking out of the Great Hall, shaking his head. He doesn't understand why Sirius didn't see the facts: he was a monster, plain and simple. The insults were the truth.

Sirius caught up to him, grabbing his shoulders. "Listen to me, idiot. Remus Lupin does not want a flea collar. Repeat."

Remus rolls his eyes. "No. Let me go."

Sirius just holds on tighter, his eyes boring into Remus'. "Remus. Lupin. Does. Not. Want. A. Flea. Collar," he says slowly and clearly. "Say it."

Remus sighs, ducking his head. "Remus Lupin does not want a flea collar," he mutters.

"I can't hear you!" Sirius sings triumphantly.

"Remus Lupin does not want a flea collar!" Remus says loudly, chuckling despite himself.

Sirius laughs and wraps Remus into a hug. "Moony, I don't understand why you don't know how…._special_ you are. You put yourself down too much," he says, so softly that Remus has to strain to hear him.

Remus pulls back. "I change into a wolf once a month, Sirius. That's not special, that's _wrong_."

"I change into a dog once a month. James changes into a stag once a month. Peter changes into a bloody _rat_ once a month," Sirius says, cutting across Remus' protests. "One might say _that's _wrong, or strange, or freakish, or whatever you want to call it. So be all that with _us_, Moony."

"It's different for you than it is for me," Remus snaps. "I didn't _choose_ this."

"Semantics," Sirius says easily, giving Remus a crooked grin. "We're all in this together now. So _stop_ acting like you're some kind of outcast, monster werewolf when we all know you're not."

"I deserve to be," Remus says quietly.

"Oh, shut up," Sirius says impatiently. "You don't, and you _should_ know that. You know, if this is how you're going to carry on, I should just tell Lily that you think she's beneath all of us."

"What?" Remus asks angrily. "I never said that."

"You didn't have to," Sirius says, rather smugly. "Carrying on like you're beneath everyone because of something you can't control is just like the idea of Muggleborns being beneath everyone because of their blood, which they can't control." He shook his head. "I grew up with that belief, Remus, and I hated it. I never thought you would support that."

"I don't!" protests Remus. "But you can't compare Muggleborns with werewolves; werewolves _kill_, Sirius."

Sirius raises his eyebrows. "Do you?"

"No," Remus snaps irritably. "But-"

"But nothing," Sirius says, now extremely smugly. "You're completely innocent, and have done nothing wrong, so I don't see why I can't compare _you_ with Lily, or the Muggleborns in general."

Remus thinks for a second, and finally cracks a grin. "Okay."

Sirius laughs victoriously. "I win. Like always."

Remus rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Thanks though. For talking me through this. I just- before the full moon, I get all weird like this, and it's hard, but you actually helped, which most people don't, you know, they try, but they end up making me more confused or more bitter or more angry, and I don't want to be, but I can't help it, and you actually made me feel better. So. Thanks." Remus looks away, blushing slightly.

Sirius stares at him for a second, his dark eyes brimming with concern. "S'okay. What are friends for?" Somewhat awkwardly, he grabs Remus into one of his huge hugs.

Remus takes a deep breath, clinging on to him. "Sirius. You know that night, with the smoking and everything?"

He can feel Sirius tense. "Yeah."

"I just- what was it, exactly? I mean, is that a normal side-effect of being high?"

Sirius disentangles himself slightly from Remus. "Er. Not really, no."

"Oh," Remus says softly, pausing for a second. "Then, what did it mean?"

Sirius draws back completely. "What do you want me to say?" he demands, somewhat angrily.

Remus blinks with surprise. "I don't know. Did you mean it?"

Sirius looks down. "I don't bloody know, Remus," he snaps. "But you know how you don't want to be seen as a monster? Well, I don't either, so if you don't mind, can we drop it?"

Remus frowns. "Why would I see you as a monster?"

"Well, obviously, you didn't want that, I took advantage of you when you were high, and I'm sorry, Moony, really, I am," Sirius rambles, giving Remus a pleading look. "And I don't want you to be disgusted with me, because you're one of my best mates, and I don't know how I could handle it if we weren't friends…" His voice cracks and he trails off, looking away.

If this was a normal day, Remus might have looked away as well, and muttered something irrelevant. But it is the full moon, and he is wild with emotions, and a little crazy with desire. And so he grabs Sirius and kisses him roughly, violently, urgently. Their teeth bang together and Remus scratches Sirius a little too hard when he rakes his fingernails across Sirius' cheeks and Sirius bites Remus' lip, drawing blood, but everything is perfect, absolutely perfect.

And Remus doesn't notice that people are staring, and is too wrapped up in Sirius to care that Severus is openly laughing and making horrible comments, and the only thoughts running through his head are _oh! _and _that feels good _and _can this last forever?_

But of course it can't, and Sirius pulls away and smirks at him. "I guess disgust was the wrong emotion."

"I guess so," Remus says, his eyes wide at what had just happened.

Sirius looks behind him at all the people staring and makes a face. He ducks into an empty classroom, and Remus follows, and his lips settle on Sirius' again, and it feels like home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** For some reason, I find it easier to write Sirius/Remus in present tense, but I don't know how good it is, since I usually write in past tense and am used to that. Let me know if it sounds off or is annoying or whatever. Thanks (:

* * *

**Gryffindor courage does not come in bottles labeled "Firewhiskey".**

Everyone knows. Everyone knows, and Remus walks through the halls with his cheeks burning in shame. People point, people stare, and people make snide comments under their breath. The Slytherins are the worst, coming up with taunts that make Remus feel physically sick to his stomach and make Sirius look like he was punched in the face. The Ravenclaws are mostly prejudiced, giving dirty looks to Remus or Sirius in the hallways. The Hufflepuffs are accepting, of course, providing a much-needed break in the swarms of sneers and laughs and disgusted looks. The majority of the Gryffindors, after an initial shock, have stood staunchly behind Remus and Sirius, but Remus still catches a few dirty looks from Gryffindor girls who have always had somewhat of a thing for the handsome Sirius Black.

Remus cares about all this, but Sirius swears he doesn't. As long as his friends don't care, he says, he doesn't care. And their friends _don't _care. James ruffles Sirius' hair fondly and grins at Remus and doesn't try very hard to abstain from saying _I told you so. _Peter looks nervous for a few days, but then relaxes and acts as if nothing has changed. Lily hugs Remus tightly when she hears and whispers that she'll just have to endure Black now, which is a shame, but really, she's surprised it didn't happen sooner.

So Remus tries to roll his eyes as if he couldn't care less when a Slytherin throws a nasty comment to him. He tries to ignore it when an annoyed Ravenclaw snaps at him that nobody else in Hogwarts is like _them_ and _shouldn't that mean something? _He tries, but it's hard, and he's usually unsuccessful.

But then there's Sirius. Sirius, who grins at him and melts away the dirty looks and comments of the day and just makes everything better. Sirius, who doesn't press him when he shies away from physical contact in public. Sirius, who knows exactly the right thing to say, who knows just how to make Remus feel human when he can't help but feel like a monster.

And it's hard to say no to Sirius Black when he's grinning at you in a way that makes your heart skip a beat.

And so Remus finds himself at Hogsmeade, with Sirius and James and Peter, but mainly _Sirius_, on Valentine's Day weekend.

"Lily doesn't know what she's missing," James grumbles for the five-hundredth time.

Sirius makes a big production of sighing and rolling his eyes. "Well, she probably _thinks_ she's missing something crazy and exciting. But really, she'd be surprised to know that we are spending our Hogsmeade weekend in _the_ most boring way: wandering aimlessly around, listening to Prongs moan."

James smacks him. "Well, we can't all be as lucky as you, can we? Some of us _aren't_ blissfully happy and _haven't_ convinced their soul mate they are meant to be together. Really, no need to rub it in."

Sirius blushes and glances at Remus. Peter looks between them and laughs. "Too soon?" he teases.

James smirks. "Sorry," he says cheerfully.

Remus spots the inviting Three Broomsticks and sighs with relief. "Let's go inside. It's bloody freezing out here."

The others agree and they troop into the crowded bar. "Grab us a table," James tells Remus and Sirius. "Pete and I will get the drinks."

Before Remus can say anything, James winks at Sirius and grabs Peter and is gone. Sirius chuckles under his breath and leads the way to an empty table in the corner. "This okay?" he asks, glancing at Remus hopefully.

Remus nods and sits down across from Sirius. He takes in the questioning stares and the muffled laughter, and bites his lip. "People must think we're on a date."

Something flashes in Sirius' eyes. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's nothing to _apologize_ for," Remus mutters.

"Do you want me to go help Prongs and Wormy get the drinks?" Sirius asks flatly.

Remus hesitates but shakes his head. "Sorry. No. I just- Forget it. Sorry."

Sirius' eyes go hard. "Sorry for what? Not wanting to be seen with me in public?" He blushes a little. "We used to be alone in public all the time. What's changed? I'm not going to pin you down and start _snogging_ you now."

Remus recognizes the hurt in Sirius' voice and sighs. "Padfoot, really, I'm sorry. I just freaked out a little bit, you know how I get." He shoots Sirius a hopeful grin. "I'm just a little nervous with…._this_ out in public now. I think I need something stronger than butterbeer."

He laughs, but Sirius doesn't join in. "Gryffindor courage does not come in bottles labeled 'Firewhiskey,'" he says quietly. The words should have come out with a teasing edge, but instead are smudged with Sirius' confusion and embarrassment and hurt.

Remus gives Sirius a half-smile. "Okay." He takes a deep breath and puts his hand over Sirius' hands.

Sirius' eyes widen with surprise, but he smiles, and it melts Remus' heart. "We'll get used to this, Moony," he breathes, all wrapped up in the thrill of young love and lust and togetherness. "And so will everyone else."

Remus nods, forcing himself to believe that, forcing himself to remember that nobody views him as a monster, that it's just him and his insecurities. And he looks into Sirius' warm gray eyes and lets the insecurities drift away.

Sirius smirks a little, leaning forward. "You're lucky this table is between us," he says throatily. "Wouldn't want to make a scene."

Remus laughs. "I don't know," he muses playfully. "I don't think _lucky_ is the right word."

Sirius shakes his head sadly, squeezing Remus' hand. "Dead unfortunate is more accurate."

Remus chuckles a little, feeling his heart pound with desire. "I wonder if the bathroom is empty," he whispers, tauntingly, recklessly.

Sirius' eyes light up. "Let's go see," he says, unable to keep the grin from spreading across his face.

They hear James' long-suffering sigh before they can get up. "Can you wait until you drink the Butterbeers we stood in line forever to get?" he demands, shoving a foamy bottle at each of them.

Remus laughs, embarrassed, and grabs the drink. "Thanks Prongs," he says, grinning at James, and making room for Peter on the bench.

Sirius takes the other one and scoots over for James to slide in next to him. "Your long wait didn't have anything to do with Evans, did it?" he asks, catching Remus' eye and smirking.

James frowns. "Maybe I saw her in line."

"And maybe you annoyed her half-to-death until she threatened to hex you," Peter adds, laughing.

James narrows his eyes. "She wasn't _annoyed_."

Peter grins at Sirius and Remus. "Well, she didn't actually _pull out _her wand. I would say that's a good sign."

James' face brightens, before he realizes his friends are laughing at him. He gives them a martyred expression. "I'm so glad my pain is amusing to you," he says, glaring at each of them. "Happy bloody Valentine's Day."

Sirius lifts his Butterbeer. "Happy Valentine's Day!" he echoes, somewhat mockingly at James, but shoots a smile at Remus.

Remus grins back, not caring that people are watching and that if they were trying to hide their relationship, they are failing miserably and that James and Peter are _right there_, because Sirius is grinning at him, and Sirius is causing his heart to skip a beat, and it's Valentine's Day, and he has fallen in love with Sirius Orion Black and he has no regrets.


	4. Chapter 4

**I will not tell the first-years that they should build a tree house in the Whomping Willow**

Christmas break is quickly approaching, but Remus can't seem to get in the spirit. It's partly because he is going to be alone at Hogwarts on Christmas- James and Peter are going home to their vibrant and happy families, and Sirius has been ordered to report back home to his evil and cruel parents and relatives, while Remus thinks of the approaching full moon and tells his parents that he'll stay in Hogwarts where it's safer.

Remus is moody, thinking of spending the full moon alone, but Sirius is downright miserable. He's sulky and angry and lashes out at people for no apparent reason. Remus watches with wide eyes and tries to say something, but doesn't quite know what to say.

James doesn't have those problems, however. "Mate, you need to calm down," he snaps one night at dinner, after Sirius glowered at a group of first years until they left the table.

"They were talking too loudly," Sirius says flatly, glaring at James, who rolls his eyes.

"You're just being a right prat, you know that? You're not the only one who will have a shitty Christmas. Look at Moony!"

Sirius glances at Remus with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but then his eyes cloud over and he looks back at James. "Right, well, excuse me Prongs for not being as excited as you are to go home for Christmas. You know what my family is like, I thought you'd understand."

"I understand," James says impatiently. "But you don't have to take everything out on us, yeah?"

Sirius shrugs, looking down. Another gaggle of first years come back and sit down, giggling loudly. Sirius stares them down, looking positively frightening.

"What?" sasses a particularly brave first year. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing," Sirius snaps. "Nothing at all. Now go…build a tree house in the Whomping Willow, or something."

"Can we do that?" asks one, but Professor McGonagall is suddenly looming over them, glaring.

"Detention, Mr. Black," she snaps. "And no, Mr. Scott, you cannot."

"For making _one comment_," Sirius starts furiously, staring at McGonagall in disbelief.

"This is the fifth time I've caught you taunting a first year," she says curtly. "So yes, Mr. Black, you will have detention in my room at eight. I believe lines will do the trick."

"Yes, Professor," Sirius mutters, getting up to leave. He storms out of the Great Hall, Peter, James, and Remus trailing after him.

Sirius spends the rest of the evening brooding in silence, and Remus curls up next to the fire, staring at the flames and thinking of the pain of a solitary full moon and being on the receiving end of Sirius' bad temper. He sees Sirius loudly leaving at eight, ignoring Remus entirely, and becomes incredibly angry. How _dare_ he treat him like this, like he's nothing, like he's…._insignificant_?

Remus brews for a few more minutes before picking up the Marauder's Map and scanning it for Sirius' dot. He sees it, alone in McGonagall's office, and his eyes narrow for a second before he hurls the map down and stomps out of the Common Room.

Sirius looks up in surprise when Remus enters the room. "Moony," he says warily. "What are you doing here?"

Remus pauses, not quite sure how to answer that. "Er, I just- I wanted to talk to you."

Siriud nods, waiting.

"You're shutting me out, you're acting like I don't exist, and Sirius, I get that you're upset about your family and everything, but I just- I just don't know why you're mad at me."

"I'm sorry," Sirius says quickly. "I know I've been a real prat to you, and to James and Peter, but really to you, and I'm sorry." He offers Remus a hesitant smile. "Are you mad?"

Remus laughs with relief, forgiving him instantly. "No, 'course not. But _why_?"

Sirius shrugs, looking down. "I just- my mum- she thinks….and you know it's just because she's prejudiced with the whole, the whole pureblood supremacy thing, but she…I know she doesn't approve of…me, and she thinks it's unnatural and I can't help it, you know that, obviously, but I can't, and I know she knows because Narcissa must have told her, and that's why she wants me home this Christmas instead of letting me go to Prong's, or even, even stay here with you, and Remus, I can't deal with it, and I thought it might be easier if we weren't…you know, but it's not, it's just made everything harder, and I just, I don't know. I'm sorry."

Remus frowned, trying to decipher what Sirius just said. "Your mum is upset about….us? Together?"

Sirius smirks without humor. "She's worse than all the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws combined."

Remus stares at Sirius, whose eyes just look so _hurt _and_ lost_ and finds himself clenching his fists in fury at Sirius' _bitch_ of a mother. "You should have told me. I could have helped."

Sirius smiles at him. "You're helping now."

Remus smiles back and ducks his head a little bit. "Er, what are you doing?"

"Lines," Sirius says, rolling his eyes. "I will not tell the first years that they should build a tree house in the Whomping Willow." He pauses, a spark of humor coming back to his face. "I should have told them to play in it on the full moon, nasty little toe-rags."

Remus snorts. "That's horrible, Pads."

Sirius grins cheekily. "Oh, they deserve it."

Remus smiles absently and perches on the edge of Sirius' desk. "Don't listen to your mum, okay? When you go back home. There's nothing wrong with us- well, there's a hell of a lot wrong with me, but it has nothing to do with you- and they don't know what they're talking about. I, I love you Pads, and I don't want you to come back after Christmas and, and not even want to be with me anymore because of what she said."

Sirius stares at him. "That will never happen," he breathes. "I love you too, Moony, and I promise I won't let her get to me. She never has before." He smirks at that, and then jumps on the desk, next to Remus.

"So…you do, you know, love me?" Remus asks, feeling silly, but needing the confirmation.

Sirius rolls his eyes and instead of answering, presses his lips against Remus'. Remus' brain clouds over and he grabs handfuls of Sirius' hair, pushing his face closer to his, licking Sirius' open mouth in a way that would be gross if it wasn't _Sirius_.

Sirius growls, deep in his throat, and pushes Remus against the desk, his fingers gently tracing the faded scars up and down Remus' arms. In response, Remus finds the scars on Sirius, scars made from the wand of his mother, the curse of his cousin, and kisses each one, healing the pain, the hurt, the sense of worthlessness. Sirius whimpers a little, like he does when he's happy and Padfoot, and starts unbuttoning Remus' shirt, pausing at every button to give Remus a kiss.

This is all so new to Remus, and a little bit embarrassing, but it's Sirius, and it's love and lust and want and need, and he closes his eyes and kisses Sirius. He clings to him, craving the affection to prove that he's not a complete monster, and Sirius clings back, craving the affection he never receives at home.

They're together, and it's perfect, and they're so wrapped up in each other that, for a second, they don't notice Professor McGonagall's gasp of horror when she walks into the room.

After that, it's a blur of embarrassment and awkwardness and lack of eye contact and muttered apologies. Sirius and Remus leave quickly, not looking at each other. After they are an appropriate distance from McGonagall's office, Remus feels like he's bubbling up with pure relief and happiness that things are all fixed with Sirius, and he begins to laugh, bending over. Sirius glances at him, surprised, but then starts to chuckle, which quickly escalates until they are both laughing hysterically, high on life and friendship and romance. And for that instant, it doesn't _matter_ that Sirius is going home to a prejudiced and cruel mother, or that Remus is going to be all alone on a full moon, all that matters is that they're okay and they're _together_.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Telling Remus Lupin that you thought once you went Black you never went back, is tacky and uncalled for**

Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James strode down the hall, laughing as they plotted their next prank.

"Really," James said loudly. "I think Snivillous has had a far more peaceful last few weeks than is good for him. I know some of us have been busy with ahem, other things, but let's not forget our priorities!"

Sirius exchanged a smirk with Remus, while avoiding James' pointed stare. "I agree!"

"I knew you would," James said happily. "Now, I propose that- oof!" He tripped over a fallen coat of arms and landed in a heap on the floor.

Peter and Sirius burst into hysterical laughter, with Remus trying to hold back his chuckles.

"Shut up," muttered James. "Help me up, would you?"

Remus, accurately realizing that Sirius and Peter were too busy laughing to be of much help, held out a hand to James. James grabbed it and started to climb to his feet.

"What's this?" said an amused voice behind them. Remus and James turned around and saw a smirking Lucius Malfoy.

"Remus, I'm surprised," the Slytherin continued. "I thought once you went Black, you never went back."

Remus' eyes widened, Peter frowned, James narrowed his eyes, and Sirius lunged at him. Peter and Remus tried-and failed- to hold him back as Sirius' hands closed around Lucius' throat, but James joined him by punching Lucius in the stomach. Lucius growled and tried to push Sirius off of him, but James kicked him with all his strength and Lucius fell to the ground.

Sirius leapt on to the ground next to Lucius and punched the moaning boy squarely in the face. As he rose his fist to punch again, even James looked surprised. Usually, one punch was sufficient for the Marauders.

"Sirius, enough," Remus said sharply.

Sirius ignored him, feeling the satisfying crack of Lucius' nose beneath his fingers.

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

The Marauders simultaneously looked up in horror as Professor McGonogall stormed across the hallway, Remus trying and failing to hold back his blush when he met McGonogall's eyes.

"What in Godric's name do you think you're doing?" she cried angrily. "Release Mr. Malfoy this instant!"

James shot to his feet and Sirius reluctantly followed. "Sorry Professor," he muttered.

McGonagall shook her head in disbelief. "I'm surprised at you, Mr. Black. Surprised and disappointed. You and Mr. Potter will be joining me in my office for a nice chat, after I escort Mr. Malfoy to the Hospital Wing."

She helped the bleeding Lucius up and headed off towards the Hospital Wing with him, leaving the Marauders awkwardly standing behind.

"We better get going, mate," James said softly, chancing a glance at Sirius, who was still fuming.

Sirius curtly nodded and started to walk up the stairs. James followed, shooting a bewildered glance at Peter and Remus.

"Padfoot!" Remus called out.

Sirius slowly turned. "What?"

"It doesn't matter," Remus said urgently. "Really."

Sirius blinked and looked down. "Yeah, it does," he muttered, turning again and going up the stairs.

Once he and James reached McGonagall's office, she was already waiting at the door. "Come in," she said shortly, gesturing to the stiff chairs before her desk.

They sat, Sirius sullenly staring at the ground.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "Would one of you care to explain why you were beating Lucius Malfoy so severely that you broke his nose in several places _and_ cracked a rib?"

"He insulted us," James said vaguely.

"He insulted you," McGonagall repeated. "And instead of acting like a mature adult, you decided to attack him."

"Telling Remus Lupin," Sirius cried out, "that you thought once you went Black, you never went back is, is, is-" he trailed off, his face flushed, and rubbed at his eyes furiously.

"Is tacky and uncalled for," McGonagall finished smoothly. "I agree."

"Sirius had every right to be pissed- oh, sorry, Professor- and I was just defending him!" James explained eagerly.

"I understand that," McGonagall said. "Still, fighting is unacceptable, you both know that." Her voice, however, was much more kind and understanding than it was five minutes ago.

Sirius and James both glumly nodded.

McGonagall gave them both a small smile. "One night's detention wouldn't do either of you harm, I suppose. I'll see you again at eight."

The boys both rose. James raised his eyebrows happily at Sirius and mouthed, _One night?_ Sirius grinned back, some of the anger subsiding from his face.

"And boys?" McGonagall called as they reached the door. "Mr. Malfoy will be dealt with accordingly."

James grinned at Sirius, who looked back at her. "Thanks Professor."

They quickly raced back to the Common Room, where Peter and Remus were waiting for them.

"Well?" Remus demanded.

James grinned at him. "Just a night's worth of detention. And Malfoy's getting punished too, the scumbag."

"That went well!" Peter chirped, looking at Sirius somewhat anxiously.

Remus was also staring at Sirius. "Yeah, it did," he said slowly. "Right, Padfoot?"

Sirius's face suddenly broke into a grin. "Yeah, I guess it did. I just wish McGonagall had come a tad bit later. Horrible timing, that woman," he added, glancing at Remus. "Punching the bastard's face felt _good_."

James laughed, clearly relieved that Sirius was back to normal. He ruffled Sirius' hair affectionately and drifted towards the fireplace, where a certain red-headed girl was sitting. Peter followed, leaving Remus and Sirius alone.

Sirius looked slightly alarmed to be left alone with Remus. "I'm going to bed."

"It's not even dinnertime," Remus said, frowning.

"Well, I'm tired, okay?" Sirius said defensively, his eyes guarded.

"Pads, really, I don't care."

"I just- I thought people didn't care."

"They don't, it was Lucius, that prick is exception to everyone else. Sirius, I thought you were the one who told _me_ not to care about what other people think," Remus said slowly.

"Yeah, I know, you're right. I don't know what came over me. It's just…."

"Embarrassing? "

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged awkwardly. "I guess so."

"We could just…keep this a secret. Pretend it never happened," Remus said softly, his heart pounding at the thought of no Sirius.

Surprise flitted over Sirius' face. "You, you want to do that?"

"Do you?"

Sirius shook his head jerkily. "Moony, _no_."

"I don't either," Remus admitted, feeling shaky from the relief that washed over him.

Sirius took a step towards him. "I do love you, Moony," he said, almost hesitantly, as if he was scared of rejection.

Remus was suddenly reminded of the Sirius most people didn't know, the Sirius Black with the terrible fear of rejection and vulnerability that lay beneath his loud and exuberant exterior. "I love you too, Pads," he responded solemnly, running his fingers through Sirius' hair.

Sirius exhaled and responded with a kiss that felt of urgency and passion and want and need. Remus closed his eyes and let himself relax into the warmth that's Sirius Black.

"You know," he whispered, pulling apart slightly from Sirius. "I don't think I'll ever go back. So what Lucius said was basically true."

Sirius stared at him for a second, and then cracked a grin. "It better be."

"Not so bad, really," Remus said softly, rubbing Sirius' back.

"Could have been worse," Sirius agreed. "So you've gone Black then?"

"Mmm," Remus grinned at him. "I think I have."

Sirius growled, leaning forward and kissing Remus again. "No," he said after a moment. "I don't want you Black. You're too good for that."

Remus chuckled, feeling Sirius' heart pound under his palm. "I'll be _your_ Black. The good kind."

Sirius made a face at him. "Sounds incestuous."

"Do you mind that?" Remus asked, laughing.

"Not at all," Sirius said, smirking, and leaned forward again.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I feel as if the last few chapters have been too serious (but not too Sirius! Haha, sorry, I had to!), so next chapter will probably be some Remus/Sirius fluff. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Warning: Sirius and Remus get a little dirty this chapter! :) Please review!

* * *

**If the thought of a spell makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to do it.**

He had told Sirius and James that pulling an elaborate prank in Flitwick's class, the week before exams, wasn't a bright idea. Remus sighed as he stared at Professor Flitwick slamming his tiny hand against his desk.

"Really, as sixth years, I expected more from you!" Flitwick said shrilly. "_Especially_ you, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black."

Remus glared at Sirius, who was sitting beside him, looking quite innocent. James was in front of them, and Remus could tell by the way his shoulders were shaking, that he was not particularly contrite.

Flitwick shook his head. "Wands away," he said wearily. "Pull out your Standard Book of Spells and read. No talking."

The class groaned, but pulled out their books. As soon as Flitwick turned his back, however, their eyes had quickly strayed away from the pages of the spell book. Sirius, on the other hand, was staring at the book, smirking.

"What?" Remus asked, bewildered. "What are you looking at?"

Sirius glanced at him and started to laugh silently, his entire body shaking. "This spell," he choked out, still laughing.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Something that I like to keep in mind, Padfoot, is the rule that if a thought of a spell makes me giggle for longer than 15 seconds, I am to assume that I am not allowed to use it."

Sirius grinned at him. "Are you sore because I ruined the lesson for you?"

"I'm not _sore_, I just think it was a _bit_ immature and inappropriate…" Remus said, with a long-suffering sigh.

Sirius smirked. "My two best qualities, which I happen to know you _luuuurve_ about me. But if you're still mad, I know of a way to make you feel better!"

"What?" Remus asked nervously.

Sirius grinned wickedly and plunged his hand beneath the desks.

Remus' face turned bright red. "Sirius," he hissed. "Get your hand out of my _pants_, there are people here!"

"Mmm," Sirius agreed happily. "But I don't _think_ they're watching."

"Sirius!"

"Okay, okay," Sirius sighed, as he reluctantly withdrew his hand. "I should have known you'd be no fun."

"I'm no fun? I'm _no fun?_" Remus snapped, trying to hide his amusement.

Sirius shrugged. "Not as much fun as me…."He trailed off suddenly, with a sharp gasp. "Moony!"

"What were you saying?" Remus asked innocently.

"Your hand! It's in my- arrggghhh," Sirius broke off, staring at Remus. "Where did you learn to do- aaaagghhh."

Remus gave him a look of satisfaction and superiority. "I have my ways, Padfoot."

"Did porn teach you th- Moony! Come back!"

Remus laughed wildly, his heart racing with adrenaline and full-moon craziness. "Sorry, Pads."

"What are you guys doing?" Peter asked, turning around in his seat.

Sirius leered at him and Remus blushed. "Er…"

Peter blinked. "Never mind," he muttered awkwardly. "I don't think I want to know."

He turned back in his seat and Remus glared at Sirius. "I told you this was too risky to do in a classroom! Let's just go back to our book."

"But that's boring," Sirius whined, his hand inching towards the edge of the desk.

Remus caught it. "No," he said firmly, trying to keep the corners of his lips down. "Flitwick's glaring at us anyway, let's just pass notes, that's safe and innocent."

"And not as much fun," Sirius grumbled, but pulled out a sheet of paper anyway, scrawling something on it and passing it to Remus.

Remus read it, laughing. "No, they cannot be dirty notes!"

"Fine, I won't write anything down. But what would your ultimate fantasy be?" Sirius asked, smiling wickedly.

"Padfoot, really? We're in a classroom! With people surrounding us!"

Sirius ignored him. "I think mine would involve lots of chocolate syrup- just for you, Moony, we all know how much you like chocolate- and maybe some-"

James turned around, wearing a pained expression. "Hey Pads, want to keep your voice down when you're talking about you and Moony and chocolate syrup? Some of us are trying to not throw up, here."

Sirius flashed him a grin. "Don't be jealous that Lily prefers hot chocolate, and that would scald if you poured it all over _your _naked body."

James gagged. "I'm turning around now, and ignoring you," he said loudly.

Remus shook his head at Sirius. "I like hot chocolate more than chocolate syrup."

Sirius winced. "Ouch. But Moony, I think you'll like chocolate syrup a _bit_ more if it was slathered on my rather sexy body and you had to lick it-"

"Sirius, not so loud!" In desperation, Remus slipped his hand under the desk.

Sirius promptly stopped talking. "Mooooony," he sighed. "How I love you."

Remus smirked. "I know."

"We should do this every class," Sirius said brightly.

"Full moon is tonight," Remus reminded him. "Normally, this would not be happening. I would be quietly reading this book, ignoring your desperate attempts for attention."

"Can it be full moon every night?" Sirius asked dreamily. "I like the wolf in you! 'Course, I like the wolf in me too."

Remus groaned. "My turn."

Sirius obliged. "Begging for me? How far we've come this class period."

"I was hardly _begging_, I just- errrrgghhh, Siriuuuuussss."

Sirius smirked, satisfied, as Flitwick grumpily stood up from his desk. "Essay on the spells you read about for homework," he said, eying James and Sirius irritably. "Class dismissed."

Sirius turned to Remus. "Let's go to the library. Work on our essay."

Remus stood up, trying to discretely fix his pants. "Seriously?"

"I'm always Siri-"

"You want to work on your essay now?" Remus continued, ignoring him. "Since when are you so dedicated to school work?"

Sirius sighed, as if it was painfully obvious. "Well, aside from the fact that there are quite a few dusty stacks of books in the library that seem perfect for a, ahem, snogging session, I am _quite _interested in the spell I was reading about."

"The one that made you laugh uncontrollably?"

Sirius nodded. "I think we should probably test it out first. And the library is going to be practically empty!"

Remus looked at him warily. "But the rule _clearly _states that if you giggle for more than fifteen seconds, just assume that you are not-"

Sirius waved his hand airily. "Do you really think I care about the rules, Moony? And you won't either once you find out what the spell _is_."

"What is it?" Remus asked curiously.

Sirius leaned over and whispered in his ear. Remus turned red. Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively. Remus gulped.

And then they headed to the library.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Giant Squid is not an appropriate date to the Yule Ball. **

"The Yule Ball, the Yule Ball, the Yule Ball!" Sirius sings, throwing himself down on the couch next to Remus and James.

"What are you nattering on about?" Remus asks absently, not looking up from his book.

"The Yule Ball! It's next weekend," Sirius says happily, bouncing up and down a little.

Remus frowns. "I hate dancing," he mutters. "Why are you so excited? You're not that good, Pads."

"I'm ace at dancing," Sirius retorts.

James snorts. "At dancing with every single attractive girl at the Ball. _Including _the ones with dates." He shakes his head in mock envy. "No wonder you're so excited."

An awkward silence falls over the group. Sirius, for once, is quiet, nervously peeking at Remus under his mop of shaggy black hair. They all knew and remembered the days when Sirius would be with a different girl every week. He was described as a womanizer and a player, at the worst, and a huge flirt, at the best. And while he had calmed that side of his personality down when he and Remus entered their as-of-yet undefined relationship, it was still something that Remus doesn't care to dwell on.

James realizes what he had just said and gives Sirius a guilt-stricken look. "I mean. Obviously that's not why you're excited now. Because that, that was last year. And this year is different. You're with Moony now! See? Different. Very, very different."

"Different," echoes Sirius, still looking at Remus from the corner of his eye.

Remus cracks a smile. "You can stop rambling, Prongs. 'Sokay. It's different now, yes?"

James instantly looks relieved. "Yes. So. The Yule Ball."

"The Yule Ball!" Sirius says again, grinning at Remus. "It's my favorite time of the year!"

"I thought your favorite time was the day after exams, when everyone was in the mood for a wicked prank."

"I thought your favorite time was the Quidditch Championship."

"And I thought your favorite time was the first day of school, when you were finally escaping your family and getting to "start the year off right" by pulling pranks."

"I thought it was when-"

"Well, you're wrong," Sirius interrupts. "_This_ is my favorite time. Obviously."

Remus laughs, leaning against him. "But it's not _my_ favorite time. You can take a girl, you know. To the Ball. Honestly, I'd be pleased. I loathe dancing."

Sirius glares at him. "Moony. You've never danced with _me _before. You'll love it, promise." He pats Remus' head and turns to James. "Who're you taking? Gonna ask Evans?"

James frowns. "Already asked her," he mumbles, almost incoherently.

Sirius smirks. "Shot you down?"

James declines to respond, instead choosing to hurl a pillow at him.

Remus grins. "Prongs, you can get someone else easy."

"I _know_," James says, slapping on a confident grin.

At that moment, Peter walks into the dormitory. Sirius smirks at James and yells out lazily, "Wormy, who are you taking to the Yule Ball?"

Peter looks alarmed. "I, er, I didn't, er, hear about it, so I haven't, er, given it, er…much thought…" he trails off, blushing furiously.

Sirius sighs. "The Giant Squid is not an appropriate date to the Yule Ball, Peter."

Peter flushes again. "I-I, I'll ask someone. Soon." He gulps, looking horrified. "So, you're going with Remus?"

Remus runs his fingers through Sirius' hair, twisting the strands around his fingers thoughtfully. "Mmm, he seems to think so, but I don't dance."

Sirius scowls at him, turning up his face to meet Remus' eyes. "I'll teach you."

Remus smiles indulgently at him. "We'll see."

"I think I can change your mind," Sirius says slyly, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

Remus chuckles a little. "Right. Well. You can _try_ but I don't know if you'll actually _succeed."_

"If at first you don't succeed," Sirius quips. "Try, try again." He smirks. "Words I live by, Moony."

James clears his throat loudly. "Maybe I'll have another go at Evans," he says vaguely, giving Peter a stern look.

"Maybe I'll go and, er, help," Peter says slowly, standing up.

They both look at Sirius expectantly, waiting for a harsh crack (_Wormtail, how are you actually going to _help_? Look so thick that James seems brilliant in comparison?)_, or even a wave of acknowledgment, but Sirius has his eyes closed as Remus strokes his hair, and seems as if he is in his own little world.

James snorts. "Bye Moony." He and Peter quickly head down the staircase, snickering.

Sirius opens one eye. "They gone?"

"Mhm," Remus says softly.

Sirius rolls over so he is on his stomach, his face buried in Remus' chest. "So will you go to the Yule Ball with me, or do I have to work for it?" he asks, his voice muffled.

Remus smirks. "My answer remains final, so…"

Sirius wiggles around on the couch until he is above Remus, their faces inches apart. "And if at first I don't succeed," he whispers, before ducking his head down and softly kissing Remus.

Remus' hands find Sirius' cheeks, scratchy with day-old stubble, and draw him closer, fireworks exploding in his eyes. Sirius growls a little, his lips moving from Remus' lips, to his chin, down his neck. He bites Remus on the shoulder, and with a muffled "Ow," Remus rolls over, pinning Sirius beneath him, covering him with rough kisses. Sirius exhales, running his fingers through Remus' hair, gripping the strands as if his life depended on it.

They're a tangle of wandering hands and eager lips, of pain and bliss, of Remus and Sirius.

Remus hears a growl build up in his chest and leans even closer to Sirius, who grins and bites his shoulder again. Remus gasps and rolls to the side a little, tumbling down to the floor and bringing Sirius with him.

They lie on the floor in a heap, panting for breath. After a moment, Sirius smiles brightly. "Did I convince you yet?"

Remus pretends to think about it. "Mm, not quite yet."

Sirius smirks, rolling back on top of him. "Then try, try again."

---

The next week, Remus is standing outside the Great Hall, looking forlornly at Sirius. "I'm not dressed properly," he hisses, gesturing at his shabby dress robes.

Sirius rolls his eyes, dressed in silky gray robes that seemed to have cost thousands of Galleons, a staple from his family. "You look fine. Very sexy, Moony." He winks.

Remus ignores him and sighs. "This is going to be embarrassing. I wish it was a full moon."

Sirius gives him an exasperated look. "Shut up," he says simply, before breaking into an exaggerated wave as James and his date, a pretty girl named Marlene McKinnon. Neither looked particularly happy, but James waves back, mouthing _Seen Lily? _as he walks towards them.

Sirius shakes his head. "Have you seen Peter yet?" he asks curiously.

James begins to shake his head, just as Peter walks in with a plump girl, Alice something-or-the-other. "Hello," he says, eyeing his date in a very _Can you believe this?_ sort of way.

Remus nods. "Hi Peter. Hello Alice."

Marlene tugs James arm, and he reluctantly starts to head into the dance, giving Sirius one more pitiful look. Alice turns to Peter. "Ready?"

Peter shoots an amazed grin at Remus and Sirius (the latter of whom snorts loudly, and rather unconvincingly tries to pass it off as a cough) and nods eagerly. "Let's go in."

They enter the Great Hall, and Sirius grabs Remus' hand. "Come on," he says briskly. "I didn't take you here to lurk outside like bloody wall-flowers."

Remus sighs but allows himself to be pulled into the Great Hall, which has been adorned with icicles and snowflakes and mistletoe. Sirius spots a branch and plants Remus directly underneath it.

"Mistletoe," he whispers, grinning slyly.

Remus nervously looks around him at the crowds of people. "Oh," he manages, working to keep the alarmed look off his face.

Sirius shrugs. "Or we can just dance." Without waiting for a response, he pulls Remus into his arms, and starts to sway slightly back and forth.

Remus bites his lip. "Er," he stammers, feeling incredibly awkward. "Where did you learn to dance?"

Sirius rolls his eyes slightly at Remus' inane small talk but shrugs. "My mum had my brother and me in formal dance lessons for years."

Remus grimaces. "That sounds dreadful."

"It was pretty awful," Sirius says, seeming distracted. "But that was formal, this is just…swaying. Anyone can sway."

"I can't," Remus admits. "I don't think I'm doing this right."

Sirius meets Remus' eyes. "You're doing fine."

They sway together in silence for a few minutes, getting lost in each other and blocking out everything else. Remus is conscious of Sirius' racing heartbeat, and Sirius can sense Remus' sweaty nervousness. Remus looks into Sirius' gray eyes and as absolutely corny and contrived as it sounds, can feel himself melting, because this is _Sirius_ and they're _together_ and while he has always hated dancing, this…._swaying_ is making his heart pound with excitement and lust and desire. Sirius smiles slightly, and Remus can't look away from his eyes, because they're everything to him, and so much more, and maybe he's being overly dramatic, but a life without Sirius would be unlivable because he loves him _so much_ and he wants this moment to last forever, because it's so perfect, so so perfect.

And Remus smiles back and leans in and whispers, "Mistletoe," and as their lips meet, Remus can't imagine that anything could possibly be better than this: Remus and Sirius, together.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ah, fluffy Sirius/Remus. 3 Please review! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**I will not start food fights in the Great Hall. **

Remus walked into the Great Hall, amid the chatter of swarms of students just sitting down to dinner. He strode over to the Gryffindor table, sitting in the seat next to Sirius and across from James. "How's it going?" he asked, grinning at them.

"Hi Remus," said a voice from beside Sirius.

Remus' eyes widened. "Hi Lily. Er, how're you?" He shot a look at James, who looked as if he was torn between intense excitement and disappointment that she was sitting next to Sirius instead of him.

"I'm good," Lily said, smiling slightly. "Have you done the Potions homework yet?"

Before Remus could answer (in the affirmative, of course), James leaned forward. "Hey Lily, you have something on your mouth. I think mashed potatoes. Here." He gently wiped it off with his finger, and Lily froze in horror. James grinned at her. "All gone."

"You are so incredibly obnoxious, Potter," she snapped.

"What?" James asked, genuinely confused. Remus cringed and glanced at Sirius, who was barely containing his snickers.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't be an idiot," she huffed, lobbing her bread roll at his forehead.

It bounced off, leaving a smear of butter behind. James' mouth gaped open and Lily gasped. "I, I, I'm sorry. I just- I was angry and I-"

James slowly started laughing. "You'll pay for that, Evans." He grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes and hurled it in Lily's general direction.

He missed, and it landed on Sirius' neck. Sirius let out a bark of indignation, and Lily laughingly patted his shoulder before turning to James with a grin and a handful of corn.

Sirius turned to Remus, ignoring the whirl of food that was in the air between James and Lily, adopting a pitiful look. Remus laughed, covering his mouth.

"Oh, it's funny, is it?" Sirius asked, his eyes sparkling. "We'll see how funny this is!" He slung a fistful of potatoes at Remus' face.

Remus sputtered. "Oh, you'll pay for that, Padfoot." He rubbed butter on Sirius' cheek, ducking as beans came raining down on him. It was a blur of flying food and confusion and after a few moments, both Sirius and Remus were laughing too hard to continue on with their fight.

Remus rubbed his cheek. "Gross," he complained.

"_I'm_ still hungry," Sirius said, smirking suggestively, and leaned forward, licking Remus' cheek. "Mmm, mashed potatoes."

Remus laughed. "You're gross, Padfoot," he teased, but didn't protest as Sirius licked his cheek again.

He certainly didn't complain when Sirius' tongue moved from his cheek to his mouth, and their dancing tongues met, slowly and tantalizingly. "You taste like butter," Remus whispered.

"You taste like chocolate," Sirius responded, nibbling on Remus' lower lip.

Remus frowned slightly in confusion. "Chocolate wasn't in the food fight."

Sirius chuckled, and slid his greasy fingers down Remus' cheeks, holding him in place, as his tongue swept around Remus' mouth and his lips covered Remus'. They kissed sloppily and slowly and amid all the tastes of potatoes and butter and maybe even chocolate, there was the sense of bliss and rapture and of fireworks exploding.

A cough jerked them away from each other. Professor McGonagall was standing at their table, eyebrows raised. "You four are the ones that started this whole mess?" she asked curtly.

Remus looked around the Great Hall. Indeed, the entire student body was covered in bits and pieces of food, exchanging gleeful looks. The professors were scattered between the tables, their mouths moving angrily, clearly in the middle of lectures.

Lily blushed. "Well, it was-"

"It was a mistake," James interrupted smoothly. "It started off as a joke and I guess it got a little out of hand." He smiled winningly. "Sorry Professor."

"Detention, all four of you," she sighed. "Potter, Black, Lupin….I can't say I'm surprised, but Miss Evans, I'm disappointed. Truly."

She shook her head and left, leaving a horror-stricken Lily. "You should have let me take the blame," she shot at James. "I was the idiot who started this."

James laughed. "But I was the idiot who continued it. It was fun. And it gave Sirius and Remus an excuse to snog, so I'm sure you're their new best mate."

Remus blushed, wiping his mouth with the back of his palm. Sirius laughed easily. "Don't be jealous that we get more action than you, Prongs."

Lily snickered and James gave Sirius a murderous glare. "Yeah, well, whatever. So. Detention tonight. Bet it's lines. I will not start a food fight in the Great Hall, or something like that."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't mind lines," he said, winking at Remus. "There are plenty of things to distract you."

James' face lit up as he caught Sirius' implication, and stared at Lily. "Yeah," he said suddenly. "Maybe lines won't be so bad."

--

It wasn't lines, Remus thought glumly as he stared at Professor McGonagall.

"Since you seem to be so determined to make a mess," she said, lips pursed, "I thought it would be appropriate for you to clean the trophy room- the Muggle way. I want all trophies spotless when I return in two hours." She looked at Sirius and Remus. "And I want to see you polishing when I return in two hours. Nothing else. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," Remus muttered, cheeks red.

Sirius smirked as she left. "So. What are we doing?"

"Polishing the trophies, idiot," snapped Lily, grimly picking up a rag.

Remus snorted and picked up another rag. "It won't be so bad, Pads. It's two hours of work."

James and Sirius exchanged a horrified look. As Remus and Lily sat down in front of the trophies and began polishing as if their lives depended on it, James drew Sirius aside. "We have to do something different than this."

Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "What do you have in mind, oh wise Sir Prongs?"

James winked. "Something a bit more exciting than this. You work on Remus and I work on Lily. That corner's yours and that corner's mine."

Sirius laughed, eyes bright in understanding. "Sounds like a perfect plan." He paused and grinned. "Bet I'll beat you."

James made a face. "We'll see about that, Black." He strode over to Lily and draped a confident arm around her shoulder. "Did you know that there are not one, not two, not three, but _four_ Quidditch championship trophies for Gryffindor in here? All because I joined the team? And that there'll be another one in here at the end of the year?"

Lily rolled her eyes, pulling away with a disgusted look on her face. "Then you can have the honor of cleaning those trophies," she snapped, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like _arrogant prat_ and stomping to a case a few feet away.

On the other side of the room, Sirius was leaning over Remus' shoulder. Remus shifted, distracted from the task at hand by Sirius' body pressing against his. "The rags are over there, Padfoot," he hinted.

"You're polishing a Gryffindor Quiditch championship trophy!" Sirius exclaimed, ignoring him.

"It's not from a year when you were on the team," Remus said absently.

Sirius grinned. "So you checked?"

"I noticed the year," Remus said defensively.

"Does me being a champion Quidditch player turn you on?" Sirius whispered, his hot breath against Remus' cheek.

Remus laughed and pushed his face away. "I'm sure you'd like to think so."

"I do, and I know I'm right," Sirius said cockily, leaning closer to Remus so his face was again inches away from Remus'. "Look at you. I know you're turned on _right now_."

Remus blushed and stared intently at the trophy he was polishing. "Is this your attempt at seduction, Padfoot? It's not going to work."

"Oh, I think it will," Sirius said cheerfully, before moving his face even closer to Remus'. "Lily and James are bickering, Moony. It's just you and me. For two hours. Think of what we can _do _in two hours."

Remus turned his head and grabbed Sirius' face roughly, kissing him hard. Then he shoved Sirius away. "Yes," he said panting. "We are going to clean this trophy room in two hours." He tossed a rag at him. "Get busy."

Sirius made a face. "Fine," he sighed, walking over to where James was sitting, equally disgruntled. "Why do we have to be with the two most _rule-following _people in this school?"

James shrugged, smearing the grease around, without actually cleaning it off, on Snivellous' potion award. "Very disappointing," he agreed.

Sirius nodded, and then grinned. "But I still beat you," he said smugly.

James threw the rag at his head.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, I have become slightly addicted to writing SBRL fluff. (: If anyone has any ideas for future chapters, let me know! I have two more chapters planned out, and then I just might stop at ten, because I'm kind of running out of ideas. Anyway, please review!! (:


	9. Chapter 9

**I am not allowed to declare an official Hug A Slytherin Day.**

Remus lies awake, listening to James' heavy breathing, and Peter's soft snoring, and listens, hard, for Sirius' tossing and turning that has happened every night since the first day of first year.

It doesn't come, and Remus knows he is not the only one lying awake in the dormitory. He wonders if he should whisper something, and has almost decided against it, when he hears a soft whimper. He freezes, and the whimper happens again, soft and sad and heart-breaking. Remus closes his eyes. "Sirius?"

There is nothing but silence and Remus sighs, the sound drifting off into the darkness. "Sirius." Suddenly, a hundred and forty pounds have collided against him, and he finds himself in the arms of Sirius Black.

Sirius doesn't say anything, but just wiggles against him, and Remus lets him under the covers. "Hey," he whispers against Sirius' cheek.

Sirius draws back a little bit, and tries to grin. "Hey. Mind if I drop by?" he asks, trying to joke, trying not to show his vulnerability, but his voice cracks at the end, and he bites his lip, embarrassed.

Remus smiles tenderly. "Of course not." He tightens his grip against Sirius.

They're silent for a moment, breathing in the scent of each other and taking in the warmth of the other's arms. Remus closes his eyes, and unwillingly, his mind fills with images of earlier today.

--

"_James!" Sirius exclaimed, bouncing up and down a little and earning a chuckle and an eye-roll from Remus. "Today is official Hug-A-Slytherin day!"_

_James' face lit up, and they both ignore Remus' groan and Peter's sigh. "Awesome!"_

"_That's the stupidest idea I have ever heard," Remus snapped. _

_Sirius frowned at him. "Don't be jealous I thought of it first." _

_James grinned easily. "Well, I think it's the best idea I've heard all day. The Slytherins are all miserable little gits, they could all use a hug."_

"_We'll recruit others!" Sirius said happily._

_For some unfathomable reason, Remus discovered later that they actually managed to recruit several other Gryffindors and a couple Hufflepuffs to their cause. Remus watched as they stormed down to the Great Hall, snickering and cracking jokes. Even Peter was drawn in to their hare-brained plan, leaving Remus to stand with Lily and wonder if Sirius had been on something when he came up with this idea._

_They couldn't resist the train-wreck, so they followed the group down to the Great Hall and stared in fascination mixed in with horror, as Sirius bounded to a first year Slytherin and hugged him. The Slytherin pushed him away, disgusted, and James laughed and ran to another Slytherin, giving him a bear-hug._

_Lily turned to Remus. "This is why I don't date James."_

_Remus shrugged helplessly. "Apparently, I'm not as smart as you," he laughed, as he watched Sirius hug another Slytherin._

_They were growing more and more excited, as more Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs ran to their aid, and the Slytherins grew more and more angry._

_Remus could hear the shrieks of laughter and Sirius' particular barking laugh from where he stood with Lily, and he began to think that maybe the worst that would happen was the Slytherins hated them a little bit more, which wasn't going to be that big of a change. He even smiled slightly when he saw James lift a sputtering Snape up with the force of an overly-strong bear hug.  
_

_Then Remus watched as Sirius approached a black-haired boy from behind, shouting over his shoulder to James, as he hugged the Slytherin. The boy whirled around, and it was like a mini-Sirius, but less wild and happy and Padfoot-like, and more scrawny and pale and malicious. Sirius drew back slightly, apparently in surprise, while the boy was talking animatedly. Then the Slytherin paused, and spat something which made Sirius punch him. Remus winced and watched in horror as the "Hug-A-Slytherin" festivities quickly turned violent and chaotic. Several teachers ran over, screaming, and effectively broke up the riot, as James and Sirius were dragged away by a purple-faced McGonagall. _

_Remus saw them next after dinner, as they entered the Common Room. James made a face. "We have detention for a week," he said sadly, but quickly perked up. "But it was so worth it! Did you _see_ the looks on their faces? Brilliant. Simply brilliant."_

_Sirius didn't say anything, just grinned, but the look in his eyes made Remus ache for him. _

---

Remus sighs, and Sirius does a sad little whimper again, as if he had been remembering too. "I think," he whispers, "that I am not allowed to declare an official Hug-A-Slytherin Day."

Remus laughs silently and draws Sirius closer to him. "It was a good idea, in theory."

Sirius snorts softly. "It was a horrible idea. As you know. And I didn't even consider Regulus."

"Well, why would you? He's not your brother anymore," Remus says protectively.

Sirius shrugs. "And I shouldn't have reacted like that. He just….he said something about us. And it just made me so _mad_, I-"

Remus rubs his back. "That would make me upset too."

Sirius shakes his head. "I'm not upset about what he said. I mean, at the time, yeah, but now I just keep thinking how…how I hated him, Moony. And I hate him now. And I never used to hate him. He was my little brother. He wasn't like the rest of them. I mean, he believed in everything they believed, but he never got angry at me because I didn't believe that. He was too cowardly to stand up to our mum, but he would sometimes try to comfort me in private. We used to be good friends, growing up. And now he said he was _disgusted _by me, and I hated him for it, and now I can't even remember him fondly, because I hate him so much." Sirius sniffles, and gasps a little.

Remus doesn't know what to do, so he kisses him, trying to absorb his pain. Sirius kisses him back, and Remus can taste the saltiness of tears, and he brushes them away. Their kiss moves from gentle and slow and sweet to hard and fast and urgent, and Sirius growls and bites and scratches, and Remus half-wonders if he's even in his right mind right now, but doesn't care because it's Sirius and it's bliss. They're moving faster and faster and Sirius is on top of Remus and his hands are all over Remus' body and Remus is unbuttoning Sirius' pants, his hands shaking. It's sloppy and rough and electric. They've never gone this far before, and it's a mix of nervousness and excitement and fumbling fingers, and they don't notice or care that they're not exactly being quiet.

So James has to cough several times before either one of their minds is clear enough to notice. "Can you shut up?" he moans, throwing a pillow at them.

Sirius rolls off Remus, gasping for breath, and looks at him, eyes shining. "Thanks," he whispers.

Remus smiles crookedly, wiping his sweaty forehead. "I love you, Pads."

"Love you too, Moony," Sirius says, settling down and snuggling up next to him, making it clear that he will be spending the night in Remus' bed.

Remus closes his eyes, his brain a whirl of lust and want, and his heart pounding with excitement, and doesn't try to hide the smile that spreads across his face.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the extreme fluffiness of the last few lines xD. So, I don't know how long this story will last, but I won't end it at Chapter 10. I think that's too soon for ME....I love writing Sirius/Remus!!

And if I can be really obnoxious and throw in an author's plug: I wrote a Sirius/Remus one-shot- "Signal Fire"- if anyone is interested in checking that out as well! :D

Please review, and make my day. :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Sorry I haven't updated in a while- I've realized the timeline of this story was a bit muddled (it goes from Valentine's Day to Christmas break) and instead of dealing with it, I just wrote other SBRL stories (a one-shot "The Darkness Within" and the start of a new chaptered fic, "525,600 Minutes," if you're interested). But I think I've straightened it out (in my mind, anyway)- the story started in their sixth year, jumped a few months and they're now in the winter of their seventh year. This chapter doesn't happen directly after the last one, by the way. And finally, thanks so much to The Watcher for the snow idea of this chapter! Thanks for reading, everyone :)

* * *

**I will not change the password to the prefect's bath to "Makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty".**

It is _so early_, Remus thinks blearily, as he feels himself being _shaken_ awake. He tries to tell off whoever is doing that incessant _shaking_- as if he couldn't guess- but it comes out as being more "Marfghhhh."

"Moony!" his shaker whispers loudly. "Wake up! Wake up, it's snowing!"

Remus finally opens his eyes. "Sirius," he hisses, glancing at the clock. "It is _two o'clock_ in the _bloody morning_. If you don't go back to bed _right now_ and _shut up_, I will _strangle you and hide your body in a snow bank."_

Sirius blinks and looks slightly alarmed. James laughs from his bed. "Told you, Pads," he says smugly. "Now go to bed and wake us all up again at a reasonable hour."

"The snow might have melted by then," Sirius grumbles, but sighs and goes back to bed.

Remus ignores the guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach, and instantly falls back in a deep sleep.

It doesn't last long.

In five hours, Sirius is up, and bouncing on his bed, which is emitting loud, obnoxious squeaks.

James groans. "Not a reasonable hour, Padfoot," he says into his pillow.

Sirius jumps up and stares out the window. "Nobody's out yet!" he exclaims.

"And there's _a reason_ for that-"

"-It's the perfect time for us to go out!"

"One more hour?" James asks hopefully. Remus, who is squeezing his eyes closed in a desperate attempt to go back to sleep, prays that Sirius will agree.

Sirius does not. "In one more hour, the snow will be _ruined!_ All the obnoxious first years will be out, and they'll have trampled it, leaving us their discarded remains!"

James sighs and makes a lot of noises, which always precludes his getting up. Sirius grins and turns to Peter's bed. "Up, Pete?"

"Up," comes the response, but no movement is made. Sirius sighs and tosses a pillow at him, causing a squeak and a muttered, "Okay, okay."

Sirius wanders over to Remus' bed and sits at the edge. "Pleeeeeaaaaseeeee, Moony?" he whines, pressing himself against Remus' back.

"No," mutters Remus, eyes still closed.

"But it's snow," Sirius says sadly. "I love snow."

"Well, I don't," Remus says. He feels his dream of sleeping in slipping away from him. _Damn_ Sirius.

Sirius sighs heavily. "I promise it'll be worth it," he whispers, sticking his face in Remus'. "Come on!"

"Fine!" Remus snaps, sitting up so abruptly that Sirius almost falls off the bed. "But this better be worth it, Black."

Sirius grins and winks. "Oh, it will be."

It is, although Remus won't admit it. James is hurling snowballs randomly, and Peter is trying not to get hit, and Sirius is laughing with exhilaration. He spots Remus watching him, and bounds towards him, tackling him into the snow.

"Sirius," Remus pants, laughing. "Get off, it's cold!" Sirius just laughs at him and Remus flips him over. Then they're rolling around in the snow, and Remus doesn't know who started it, but then they're kissing and Sirius is licking the snow off Remus' face and Remus is making half-hearted protests in between kisses and Remus thinks he is very, very glad he got up.

And then a snowball hits them. "Oi!" James shouts. "Get a room!"

Sirius gestures rudely at James. "Sod off, Prongs!" he yells.

Remus laughs, standing up. "He's right, Pads. We don't want to traumatize the first years that are playing outside." He starts to walk towards the lake. "I wonder if it's frozen over," he muses.

"Ooh, I hope so," Peter says eagerly.

"You'd look a bit of a prat, ice skating, Peter," James smirks.

Sirius snorts. "Who cares about the first years?"

Remus stops at the edge of the lake. "It hasn't frozen over," he announces sadly. "And Padfoot, really, they're only eleven." He can't say anything else because Sirius has jumped on his back and he's teetering wildly on the brink of the lake and then for one long, horrifying moment he's falling, falling, falling and then fallen into the icy cold waters.

Remus' head breaks the surface of the water first. "S-Sirius!" he sputters, his teeth chattering.

Sirius' head pops up, grinning infuriatingly. "Hey," he says, pumping his fist victoriously at James, who looks torn between laughter at their plight and envy at the idea.

Peter looks panicked. "Are you all right?" he nearly screams. "SWIM TO THE SHORE."

Remus glares at Sirius and begins to make his way to the shore, looking at the gathering onlookers with horror. "H-H-Help me up," he snaps at James, who is laughing too hard to move.

Peter is the one who nervously approaches the edge of the lake and holds out his hand.

"P-Pull him in!" Sirius shouts, grinning at James.

Peter looks horrified. Remus shakes his head to reassure him, grabbing his hand. "Thanks P-Peter," he manages after he's on land again. He smirks at Sirius who is still floating in the lake. "After t-that, P-Pad-dfoot, I don't t-think anyone is going to h-h-help you."

Peter shakes his head. "I'm rubbish at swimming," he squeaks. James just laughs.

Sirius rolls his eyes. "I c-c-can get out m-m-myself." He swims to the side and somehow manages to gracefully hoist himself up to the shore. He grins triumphantly. "See?"

Remus shivers violently. "I'm g-going to the prefect's b-b-bathroom to clean up. Take a hot b-bath. Are you…" he trails off, sneezing abruptly.

Sirius smirks. "I'll c-come with you!"

James makes a face. "I'll be sure to not go in there. And I'll alert all the other prefects to stay far, far away if they value their eyes." He grins suddenly. "And I'll tell Lily…ooh, or maybe I'll lure her in there, under the pretense of Head business, and then the sight of you two shagging will inspire her." He raises his eyebrows lewdly. "Carry on then."

Remus narrows his eyes. "Insp-pire her to s-s-smack you upside the h-h-head, perhaps."

"The effect is ruined when you can't stop stuttering," James points out.

Sirius laughs and grabs Remus' hand. "C-c-come on, I'm f-f-freezing."

They nearly run to the prefects' bathroom, and Sirius instantly throws off his sopping wet shirt and shoes and climbs into the bathtub, turning on the water. "Get in," he orders, filling the tub with scores of bubbles.

Remus kicks off his shoes and gingerly climbs into the large bath. "We don't need _that_ many bubbles, Pads," he says absently.

Sirius smirks and floats over to him. "Mm, I t-think my lips are still c-cold." He looks at Remus expectantly.

Remus nods. "They'll warm up soon."

Sirius sighs impatiently and then presses his lips to Remus'. "They'll warm up faster this way," he murmurs, grinning wickedly.

Remus laughs. "Oh." He kisses Sirius slowly, a steadily building dance of tongues meeting and lips colliding.

Sirius pulls away slightly to rip Remus' shirt over his head. "Shouldn't hide your scars, Moony," he says gaspingly, in between Remus' rough kisses. "They're quite sexy."

Normally, Remus would disagree, but he's staring at Sirius' bare chest, scattered with scars left over from his days as a member of the Black family, and he finds himself nodding. Sirius grins, pulling Remus closer, his breath tantalizingly close to Remus' lips. "Worth getting up this morning?"

Remus growls in agreement and pushes Sirius deeper into the bubbles with the weight of his mouth on Sirius'. Sirius snorts and flips Remus over so he's on top of him. "Padfoot doesn't like Moony's dominance," he says, grinning slightly, and bites Remus' shoulder.

Remus rolls his eyes, but submits, and after a few moments, it's like they've never been cold at all.

--

That night, Remus comes into the dormitory and hurls a pillow at the lump in Sirius' bed.

"Hey," Sirius weakly protests, sitting up. He looks exhausted, and Remus smirks. "What's all this?"

Remus rolls his eyes, trying to hide his grin. "Just got back from a chat with McGonagall."

"What'd she want?" Sirius asks innocently.

"Sirius," Remus says solemnly. "Repeat after me. I, Sirius Black," He pauses and glowers at Sirius.

Sirius grins. "I, Sirius Black," he parrots.

"Will not change the password to the prefects' bath to-"

Sirius cuts in, laughing. "Hey, I never admitted to anything of that sort." Remus silences him with a look and Sirius sighs, repeating, "will not change the password to the prefects' bath to…"

"'Makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty,'" Remus finishes, shaking his head in mock-disappointment at Sirius.

Sirius smirks and repeats the last bit in a rush. "Next time," he mutters, winking at Remus, "I'll leave out the almost."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long wait in between updates! I....don't really have an excuse. Sorry, haha. I hope you like this chapter though, and reviews are definitely appreciated! :D

* * *

**The proper way to report to Professor McGonagall is "You wanted to see me, Professor?" Not "I have it on good authority that you have no evidence."**

Sirius is sprawled out on the dormitory floor, flicking his wand aimlessly at flies. He sighs heavily. Remus is sitting at his desk, reading. He ignores him. Sirius groans softly and rolls over. He is about to speak, but then thinks better of it, and just groans again. Remus clenches his fists, but decides not to give Sirius any encouragement. Sirius moans and stuffs his face in a pillow and screams.

Remus jumps. "Sirius!" he snaps, his heart pounding. "You almost gave me a bloody heart attack, was that _necessary_?"

Sirius sighs. "Sorry. I had to get it out."

"You're a lunatic," Remus says irritably. "Now be quiet, I still have ten more minutes."

"When I said I'd give you thirty minutes, I didn't know it'd be so _boring_," Sirius mutters sullenly.

Remus sighs. "Go pester James."

"He's snogging _Lily_," Sirius says, frowning.

"Peter."

"He's _boring_," Sirius says dismissively, rolling over.

"I'm boring!"

Sirius snorts. "Moony, you're never boring!"

"I wish I was," Remus mutters darkly. "Then maybe I'd get a complete thirty minutes to read."

Sirius grins. "But that's not fun!"

Remus sighs wistfully. "I think it is very fun."

"But you're a nerd, Moony," Sirius explains patiently. "But that's okay. I like nerds." He winks suggestively. "A lot."

Remus tries to hide a grin. "Well, you're going to have to sit still. Ten more minutes." He cuts across Sirius' whining. "Really, Pads, learn some patience. It'll help you when we graduate and you become an Auror. You won't _die._"

Sirius makes a horrible face. "Et tu, Brute?"

Remus raises his eyebrows, surprised Sirius has even heard the Muggle reference. "Do you know what that means? I don't think you're using it correctly."

"Of course I am," Sirius grumbles, looking offended. "Everyone's been going on and _on_ about graduation and the real world, and now you are too!"

Remus glances at him. "We're graduating in a few months, Pads. This should be expected."

"Don't say it," moans Sirius. "The Marauders are already dying, I'd rather not think about the final nail in the coffin."

Remus sadly closes his book. There's no chance of any more reading now. "What do you mean? We're not _dying._"

"James is always with Lily," Sirius says in a rush. "And who knows where Peter is, and I'm always with you, which is great, don't get me wrong, but none of us do pranks anymore because we're all grown up, and I hate it."

"Oh," Remus says, frowning. They have been drifting away from pranks, and Marauder- like escapades, and while Remus isn't too torn up about it (it's hard to snog Sirius when he's engrossed in a prank with James), it's clear that Sirius is. "Well, we can do a prank."

"James won't want to," Sirius says miserably. "Now that he's _Head Boy_ and he's dating _Lily bloody Evans_, he doesn't want to do anything _fun _anymore. You were never this boring when you were Prefect."

Remus snorts. "Well, then, we can do a prank without him."

"Peter won't do anything if James doesn't want to," Sirius says glumly.

"Just you and me, then?"

Sirius perks up. "Really?"

"Nothing that would actually hurt anyone," Remus says hastily. "And nothing _illegal._ But yeah, an innocent, fun prank would be nice."

"Very nice," Sirius says, his eyes taking on that far-away look that Remus has learned to associate with evil, delectable plans being brewed.

"Nothing illegal," Remus repeats. "Or harmful. Just innocent. Fun. Nice."

"Right, right," Sirius says, in an attempt to be reassuring that failed miserably. "Listen, you leave the planning to me. Go and finish your book."

"Are _you_ trying to get _me_ to shut up?" Remus asks, mildly offended.

Sirius grins. "No. I have much better ways of getting you to shut up." He cocks his eyebrow suggestively. "Wanna try a way or two?"

Remus smirks. "No, I'll just finish my book. Like you said. You go plan the prank. Like you wanted."

Sirius lurches up from his sprawled position on the floor and practically catapults himself at Remus, knocking him against the back of his chair. "I don't want to anymore," he whispers throatily, his lips below Remus' ear and his hot breath tingling Remus' skin.

Remus laughs. "We can't always get what we want, Sirius."

"Oh, can't we?" Sirius nips at Remus' earlobe and Remus hisses in pain, grabbing Sirius' face and covering his mouth with his own.

"No biting," he breathes into Sirius' mouth. Sirius laughs, low in his throat, and nips at Remus' lips.

Remus growls and kisses Sirius more intensely and they tumble onto the floor, intertwined and entangled into each other, books and pranks and graduation forgotten.

---

The next morning, however, Sirius has risen early, and has thrown a sheet of parchment on Remus' bed, filled with lists of spells he needed the incantation for and a quick note that says **_give me this in Charms, Moony, and we'll have ourselves a prank!_**. Remus reads the list with a growing sense of dread that is amplified when he learns Sirius is nowhere to be seen.

The hours pass excruciatingly slow until it is finally Charms, and Remus drops the list with his added incantations on Sirius' desk when he walks into the room. Sirius grins and winks and Remus gulps, before sitting down in his seat and waiting anxiously until lunch.

Sirius darts out of the room as soon as Flitwick dismisses the class, but when Remus walks into the Great Hall, he sees Sirius sitting innocently in his standard seat at the Gryffindor table. Remus drops into the seat next to him. "Well?" he hisses expectantly.

Sirius gives him a perplexed look. "Well….the sandwiches today are great, if that's what you're asking. Top notch." He smirks and takes a large bite.

Remus swats him. "No, that's not what I'm asking. You know what I'm asking."

Sirius grins. "No, Moony, dear, I will _not_ snog you in the bathroom right now. Really, you're insatiable."

Remus is temporarily distracted by the pleasant idea of snogging Sirius in a deserted bathroom, but rolls his eyes. "Fine, don't tell me. Just use me for the research. You'll get all the excitement and the glory and I'll get the books. I rather like books, don't get me wrong, but I like excitement and glory too. But how would I know, I've never actually experienced that, unless you count-"

Sirius clamps his hand over Remus' mouth. "Why would I tell you," he hisses, "when I could show you?"

Just then, as if on cue (and knowing Sirius, it probably is), the Great Hall seems to explode in swatches of red and gold light. Fireworks whiz around the Hall, and dart around the awestruck students and teachers.

Remus stares at Sirius, bathed in the red and gold light, and laughs. "This is great, Pads," he practically screams above the explosions everywhere.

Sirius grins, looking happier than Remus has seen him look in ages, and grabs Remus and kisses him. Remus sees fireworks, and then laughs deliriously because it's _actual_ fireworks, and Sirius is right there, kissing him, and students are shouting with laughter and James and Peter are dancing around them, protests that they didn't tell them mixing in with exclamations of delight, and there are _fireworks_ and it is all so amazing.

---

That night, Sirius walks into the common room, looking exhausted but still incredibly happy.

Remus grins at him. "How was it?"

Sirius shrugs. "Apparently, the proper way to report to Professor McGonagall is, "You wanted to see me, Professor?" Not, "I have it on good authority that you have no evidence." Who knew?"

Remus rolls his eyes affectionately. "Anyone with a brain?"

"Shut up," Sirius snorts, sitting next to him. "So did you like the prank?"

Remus laughs. "I loved it. It was amazing. You're amazing."

"I know," Sirius grins cheekily, and kisses Remus, and fireworks explode all over again.


End file.
